Chamber and committees

Scottish Childrens Coalition Services submission

Scottish Children’s Coalition Services

Impact of the pandemic upon children and young people with additional support needs and care- experienced young people.

Background to the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition

The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC) - www.thescsc.org.uk - is an alliance of leading providers of care and support to vulnerable children and young people, as well as to their families and carers.ds (ASN) and mental health problems, as well as to their families and carers. They also provide care and support to care experienced children and young people, as well as to their carers.

We are committed to improving the lives of these children and young people, and our vision is for Scotland to be the best place in the world for them to grow up in. As a coalition we aim to achieve this through campaigning for better care and support. This seeks to ensure that they have access to a wide range of high-quality, well-resourced and easily accessible services, tailored to their individual needs and helping them achieve their full potential

Our members deliver specialist care and support to children and young people with additional support needs

Members of the SCSC are: Falkland House School- www.falklandhouseschool.org, LOVE Learning - www.l-o-v-e.org.uk, Spark of Genius - www.sparkofgenius.com and Young Foundations - www.youngfoundations.comds.

The COVID-19 pandemic

Feedback from our members and other agencies points to the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had an incredibly damaging impact on those with additional support needs (ASN), as well as their families, widening the educational attainment gap.

It has served to exacerbate a deeply challenging situation that already existed pre-pandemic for vulnerable children and young people, who disproportionately come from more deprived communities.

Scientific evidence indicates that, particularly for children living with social deprivation, the risks to health and wellbeing of staying at home during the lockdown outweighed the risks of returning to school. Children suffered considerably as a result of school closures, with the burden falling disproportionately on those with ASN, especially those experiencing additional social disadvantages. (1)

he ongoing situation with the pandemic has widened existing inequalities, with unequal access to IT, varying levels of support and differences in family resources. This has proven even more difficult for those with ASN, especially those with more complex needs. Parents were often left caring entirely alone in the home environment, with an even greater impact on single parents.

This is set against a background of escalating numbers of those with ASN, while the funding per pupil with ASN, number of specialist ASN teachers, and resourcing to third sector/community service support falls.

ASN background

In 2020, 226,838 pupils in Scotland’s schools (publicly funded primary, secondary and special) were identified with ASN, representing just under a third of all pupils (32.3 per cent). Of these 58.0 per cent of are boys. (2) The number of pupils with ASN has nearly doubled (92.2 per cent) since 2012 from 118,011 pupils, an increase of 108,827. This represented 17.6 per cent of all pupils in that year. (3)

The increase in the number of pupils with ASN is due to a number of factors. These include increased awareness, better identification and continued improvements in recording those with ASN, as well as Increased survival rates for children and young people with complex needs leading to steeply increased numbers. In addition to this there has been an increase due to rising levels of poor mental health and social, emotional and behavioural issues, worsened by increasing levels of poverty and inequality.

Educational outcomes

It is too early to assess the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on those with ASN, but preliminary statistics point to a widening in the educational attainment gap as well as an escalation in mental health problems.

Leaver destinations

Leaver destinations for school leavers (2019/20) released by the Scottish Government on 15th June 2021 highlight the falling levels of school leavers with ASN, entering a positive destination nine months after leaving school. This includes the likes of further education, higher education, employment and training.

• While 87.2 per cent of 2019/20 school leavers with ASN were in a positive destination nine months after leaving school, this is a decrease on 2018/19 when the figure was 87.9 per cent. For those with no ASN the figures are 94.9 per cent and 95.1 per cent respectively.

• The gap between those school leavers with ASN and those with no ASN in a positive destination has increased from 7.2 per cent for 2018/19 to 7.7 per cent in 2019/20.
Co-ordinated support plans (CSPs)

A CSP is a legal document, the only education plans that are legal documents, requiring services such as education, health and social work to work together to give a child or young person the support they need. It provides some guarantees of entitlement to additional resources and legal redress, placing statutory duties on local authorities to review and ensure the provisions contained within it are being met.

Despite a Scottish Government promise that there would be no reduction in the proportion of pupils receiving them since their introduction in 2004, there has been a significant fall in the number of pupils with CSPs, from 3,448 in 2012 (4) to 1,534 in 2020 (5), amounting to a drop of 55.5 per cent (publicly funded primary, secondary and special schools). This is a reduction from 2.9 per cent to 0.7 per cent of those with ASN and currently amounts to 0.2 per cent of the pupil population.

While those with ASN come disproportionately from the most deprived neighbourhoods, they have a lower proportion receiving a CSP when compared with those from the least deprived neighbourhoods.

This clearly raises concerns that those requiring a CSP, which come predominantly from more deprived communities, are not receiving the guaranteed support required.
Mental health

The challenges facing those children with mental health problems, both prior to and created by the pandemic, and their inability to access adequate services has been well-documented.

Figures from Public Health Scotland indicate that at the end of June 2021, 1,686 children and young people had been waiting over a year for treatment from specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) provided by the NHS. This figure represents a doubling from June 2020 (787). They also represent 14.4 per cent of those waiting for specialist treatment. (6)

While undoubtedly damaging, the impact of the pandemic on the mental wellbeing of many of our young people is not yet fully understood.
Figures from August however indicating that self-harm among the young in Scotland was at its highest level for 14 years may be a sign of things to come. (7)
Referrals to social services

Referrals to child protection services fell during lockdown in over half of Scottish councils and plunged by more than a quarter in some areas. (8)
The biggest fall was in Renfrewshire, where referrals to children’s services fell by 29 per cent, but a number of other local authorities recorded referrals dropping by more than 20 per cent.

It is no surprise that during the lockdown restrictions there has been a decline. The opportunities to identify where problems existed at an early stage have been absent and all the time that we're not identifying support that young people need, they're being damaged, whether this be through, for example, abuse or neglect.
Some of Scotland’s most vulnerable children have slipped under the radar and that as the situation eases there will be an influx of referrals to already overstretched and under-resourced services.

There is potentially a whole generation of children and young people who are being traumatised, not being safeguarded, and that's simply not acceptable and will impact not only on the individual concerned but on society as a whole.
Resourcing for children with ASN
Reduction in ASN funding
Figures from the Scottish Government highlight that average spend per pupil on additional support for learning by local authorities in Scotland (primary, secondary and special education) has fallen from £4,276 in 2012/13 (9) to £3,224 in 2019/20 (10) (in cash terms). This amounts to an overall cut in spending of £1,052 per pupil, representing a 24.6 per cent drop.

• Spend per pupil with ASN has therefore slumped dramatically, while the number of pupils with ASN has escalated dramatically and the number of specialist teachers supporting them has fallen (see below).

• Spend per pupil ranges from £1,737 in Edinburgh to £5,849 in the Shetland Islands, pointing to a ‘postcode lottery’ in spend across local authorities (see Annex 1 for spend per local authority).

• Reduction in ASN teacher numbers

The number of ASN teachers in publicly funded schools has fallen by 578 over the period 2012 to 2020, from 3,389 to 2,860 (full-time equivalents), a drop of 529 equating to a cut of 15.6 per cent.(11) This is despite an 92.2 per cent increase over the same period in the number of pupils identified with ASN to 226,838 as highlighted previously, amounting to an increase of 108,827 pupils.(12) In 2012 while each ASN teacher was supporting 35 pupils with ASN, by 2020 this figure had risen to each teacher supporting 79 such pupils.

While we are in favour of a presumption of mainstreaming, the decline in resourcing leading to a lack of support makes this extremely challenging for those supporting children with ASN, as well as their peers.

Conclusion

The pandemic turned children’s and families’ lives upside down. Children’s education and childcare were disrupted, mental health issues among parents and children increased, and some families who were already struggling were pushed to breaking point
It is vital that those with ASN get the care and support they need, especially during and as we come out of the current Covid-19 crisis. This is also key if we are to genuinely close the educational attainment gap as we know that those with ASN are disproportionately drawn from poorer neighbourhoods.
With evidence of cuts in spending per pupil with ASN and in the number of specialist teachers supporting this group, being able to achieve this is clearly challenging.
It is vital that the Scottish Government and local authorities work together to provide the necessary resourcing to address the needs of those children and young people with ASN, who represent some of the most vulnerable individuals in our society.
Without taking urgent actions we risk creating a lost generation of vulnerable children and young people impacted by COVID-19.

References:

1. Scottish Government. “Excellence and Equity during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Strategic Framework for Reopening Schools, Early Learning and Childcare Provision in Scotland, 2020.
2. Scottish Government, Summary statistics for schools in Scotland - 2020 Edition, 15th December 2020, table 4.5. Available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-schools-scotland-2020/pages/5/ (accessed 15th December 2020).
3. Scottish Government, Pupil Census 2020 supplementary statistics, 23rd March 2021, table 1.5. Available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/pupil-census-supplementary-statistics/ (accessed 24th June 2021)and-adolescent-mental-health-services-camhs-waiting-times-quarter-ending-30-june-2021/ (accessed 7th September 2021).
4. Scottish Government, Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland, No. 3: 2012 Edition, 11th December 2012, table 3.5. Available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/summary-statistics-schools-scotland-3-2012-edition/pages/15/ (accessed 12th March 2018).5.
5. Scottish Government, Summary statistics for schools in Scotland - 2020 Edition (PDF link), 15th December 2020, table 4.5, p. 19. Available at: https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2020/12/summary- statistics-schools-scotland-2020/documents/summary-statistics-schools-scotland/summary-statistics-schools- scotland/gov.scot
6. Public Health Scotland, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Waiting Times in Scotland, Quarter Ending 30th June 2021, CAMHS Waiting Times Tables (Excel), table 1b, 7th September 2021. Available at: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/child-and-adolescent-mental-health-services-camhs-waiting-times/child-and-adolescent-mental-health-services-camhs-waiting-times-quarter-ending-30-june-2021/ (accessed 7th September 2021).
7. The Scotsman, Self- harm cases in children at highest level in Scotland in 14 years , 13th  August 2021.

   Available at: https://www.scotsman.com/health/self-harm-cases-in-children-at-highest-level-in-scotland-in-14- years-3344687 (accessed 4th November 2021).

8. Sunday Post, Off the radar: Fears for vulnerable children as lockdown referrals fall , 10th October 2021. Available at: https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/off-the-radar-fears-for-vulnerable-children-as-lockdown-referrals-fallif-children-are-not- in-school-it-is-less-likely-concerns-will-be-identified/ (accessed 4th November 2021).

9. Scottish Parliament, John Swinney MSP Written Answer, table 3. 24th April 2017. Available at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx?SearchType=Advance&ReferenceNumbers=S5W- 08627&DateTo=23/11/2017 23:59:59&SortBy=DateSubmitted&Answers=All&SearchFor=All&ResultsPerPage=10 (accessed 25th April 2017).

10. 10 Scottish Parliament, Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP Written Answer, table 4, 1st June 2021. Available at: https://archive2021.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx?SearchType=Advance&ReferenceNumbers=S6W- 00064&ResultsPerPage=10 (accessed 4th June 2021).

11. Scottish Parliament, Shirley-Anne Somerville, Written Answer, 1st June 2021. Available at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers/question?ref=S6W-00088 (accessed 11th June 2021).

12. Scottish Government, Pupil Census 2020 supplementary statistics, 23rd March 2021, table 1.5. Available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/pupil-census-supplementary-statistics/ (accessed 24th June 2021